Egyptian medical papyri

Ancient medical instruments, Temple of Kom Ombo.

Egyptian medical papyri are ancient Egyptian texts written on papyrus which permit a glimpse at medical procedures and practices in ancient Egypt. The papyri give details on disease, diagnosis, and remedies of disease, which include herbal remedies, surgery, and magical spells. It is thought there were more medical papyri, but many have been lost due to grave robbing. The largest study of the medical papyri to date has been undertaken by Berlin University and was titled Medizin der alten Ägypter ("Medicine of ancient Egypt").^[1]

Early Egyptian medicine was based mostly on a mixture of magic and religious spells. Most commonly "cured" by use of amulets or magical spells, the illnesses were thought to be caused by spiteful behavior or actions. Afterwards, doctors performed various medical treatments if necessary. The instructions for these medical rituals were later inscribed on papyrus scrolls by the priests performing the actions.^[2]

Main medical papyri

Kahun Papyrus

Main article: Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus

Dated to circa 1800 BCE, the Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus is the oldest known medical text. It was found at El-Lahun by Flinders Petrie in 1889,^[3] first translated by F. Ll. Griffith in 1893, and published in The Petrie Papyri: Hieratic Papyri from Kahun and Gurob. The papyrus contains 35 separate paragraphs relating to women's health, such as gynaecological diseases, fertility, pregnancy, and contraception.^[1] It does not describe surgery.

Ramesseum Papyri

Main article: Ramesseum medical papyri

The Ramesseum Papyri – These consist of 17 individual papyri that were found in the great temple of the Ramesseum. They concentrate on the eyes, gynecology, paediatrics, muscles and tendons.^[1]^[4]

Edwin Smith Papyrus

Plates vi & vii of the Edwin Smith Papyrus (around the 17th century BC), among the earliest medical texts

Main article: Edwin Smith Papyrus

Dated to circa 1600 BCE, the Edwin Smith Papyrus is the only surviving copy of part of an Ancient Egyptian textbook on trauma surgery. The papyrus takes its name from the Egyptian archaeologist Edwin Smith, who purchased it in the 1860s.^[5] The most detailed and sophisticated of the extant medical papyri, it is also the world's oldest surgical text. Written in the hieratic script of the ancient Egyptian language,^[6] it is thought to be based on material from a thousand years earlier.^[7] The document consists of 22 pages (17 pages on the recto, and 5 pages on the verso). 48 cases of trauma are examined, each with a description of the physical examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.^[1] ^[8] An important aspect of the text is that it shows that the heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, ureters, and bladder were all known to the Egyptians, along with the fact that the blood vessels were connected to the heart. The entire translation is available online.

Ebers Papyrus

Main article: Ebers Papyrus

The Ebers Papyrus was also purchased by Edwin Smith in 1862. It takes its name from Georg Ebers who purchased the papyrus in 1872. The papyrus dates to around 1550BC and covers 110 pages, making it the lengthiest of the medical papyri.^[1] The papyrus covers many different topics including; dermatology, digestive diseases, traumatic diseases, dentistry and gynecological conditions. It makes many references to treating ailments with spells or religious techniques. One of the most important findings of this papyrus are the references to migraines which shows the condition dates back to this time.^[9]

Hearst Papyrus

Main article: Hearst papyrus

The Hearst Papyrus was offered in 1901 to the Hearst Expedition in Egypt. It is dated around 2000 BC, though doubts subsist about its authenticity. It concentrated on treatments for problems dealing with the urinary system, blood, hair, and bites. It has been extensively studied since its publication in 1905.^[1] ^[10]

London Papyrus

Londonpapyrus EA 10059

Main article: London Medical Papyrus

The London Medical Papyrus – This is located in the British Museum and dates back to Tutankhamun. Although in poor condition, study of it has found it to focus on magical spells as remedy for disease.^[1]

Berlin Papyrus

Main article: Brugsch Papyrus

The Greater Berlin Papyrus, also known as the Brugsch Papyrus (Pap. Berl. 3038) – Discovered by Giuseppe Passalacqua. It consists of 24 pages and is very similar to the Ebers Papyrus. Later sold to Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia with other objects in 1827 for the Berlin Museum, the Greater Berlin Papyrus was translated into German in 1909.^[1]

Carlsberg Papyrus

Main article: Carlsberg Papyrus

The Carlsberg Papyrus – It is the property of the Carlsberg Foundation. The papyrus covers diseases of the eye and pregnancy.^[1]

Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus

Main article: Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus

The Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus – This papyrus is named after Sir Alfred Chester Beatty who donated 19 papyri to the British Museum. The remedies in these texts are generally related to magic and focus on conditions that involve headaches and anorectal ailments.^[1]

Brooklyn Papyrus

Main article: Brooklyn Papyrus

The Brooklyn Papyrus – Focusing mainly on snakebites, the Brooklyn Papyrus speaks of remedial methods for poisons obtained from snakes, scorpions, and tarantulas. The Brooklyn Papyrus currently resides in the Brooklyn Museum.^[1]^[11]

Table of ancient Egyptian medical papyri

Papyrus Name	Other names	Dating	Language	Medical specialties	Contents	Scribe/Author	Date & place of discovery	place of preserving	size
Edwin Smith Papyrus	Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus	dates to Dynasties 16-17 of the Second Intermediate Period in Ancient Egypt, ca. 1500 BCE but believed to be a copy from Old Kingdom, 3000-2500 BCE	Hieratic	The oldest known surgical treatise on trauma	The vast majority of the papyrus is concerned with trauma and surgery, with short sections on gynecology and cosmetics on the verso. On the recto side, there are 48 cases of injury. The verso side consists of eight magic spells and five prescriptions. The oldest known surgical treatise on trauma	Attributed by some to Imhotep	Luxor, Egypt before 1862	New York Academy of Medicine	a scroll 4.68 metres (15.4 ft) in length. The recto (front side) has 377 lines in 17 columns, while the verso (backside) has 92 lines in five columns
Ebers Papyrus	Papyrus Ebers	c. 1550 BC but believed to be a copy from earlier texts of 3400 BC	Hieratic	Medicine, Obstetrics & gynecology & surgery	The scroll contains some 700 magical formulas and remedies, chapters on contraception, diagnosis of pregnancy and other gynecological matters, intestinal disease and parasites, eye and skin problems, dentistry and the surgical treatment of abscesses and tumors, bone-setting and burns	N/A	Assassif district of the Theban necropolis before 1862	Library of University of Leipzig, Germany	a 110-page scroll, which is about 20 meters long
Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus	Kahun Papyrus, Kahun Medical Papyrus, or UC 32057	ca. 1800 BCE	Hieratic	Medicine, Obstetrics & gynecology, pediatrics and veterinary medicine	The text is divided into thirty-four sections that deals with women's health—gynecological diseases, fertility, pregnancy, contraception, etc. The later Berlin Papyrus and the Ramesseum Papyrus IV cover much of the same ground, often giving identical prescriptions	N/A	El-Lahun by Flinders Petrie in 1889	University College London	2 gynecologic papyri &1 veterinary payrus
Ramesseum medical papyri	Ramesseum medical papyri parts III, IV, and V	18th century BC	Hieroglyphic & hieratic	Medicine, gynecology, ophthalmology, rheumatology & pediatrics	A collection of ancient Egyptian medical documents in parts III, IV, and V, and written in vertical columns that mainly dealt with ailments, diseases, the structure of the body, and supposed remedies used to heal these afflictions. Namely ophthalmologic ailments, gynecology, muscles, tendons, and diseases of children	N/A	Ramesseum temple	Oxford Ashmoulian Museum	3 papyri (parts III, IV, V)
Hearst papyrus	Hearst Medical Papyrus	18th Dynasty of Egypt, around time of Tuthmosis III ca. 0000 but believed to have been composed earlier, during the Middle Kingdom, around 2000 BC	Hieratic	Urology, Medicine and bites	260 paragraphs on 18 columns in 18 pages of medical prescriptions for problems of urinary system, blood, hair, and bites	N/A	discovered by an Egyptian peasant of village of Deir el-Ballas before 1901	Bancroft Library, University of California	18 pages
London Medical Papyrus	BM EA 10059	19th dynasty 1300 BC or ca. 1629–1628 BC	Hieratic	skin complaints, eye complaints, bleeding, miscarriage and burns	61 recipes, of which 25 are classified as medical the remainder are of magic	N/A	N/A	Royal institute of London
Brugsch Papyrus	Pap. Berl. 3038, the Greater Berlin Papyrus	19th dynasty, and dated ca. 1350 - 1200 BC	Hieratic ?	Medical	discussing general medical cases and bears a great similarity to the Ebers papyrus. Some historians believe that this papyrus was used by Galen in his writings	24 pages (21 to the front and 3 on the back)	N/A	Discovered by an Egyptian in Saqqara before 1827	Berlin Museum
Carlsberg papyrus	N/A	between the 19th and 20th dynasties, New Kingdom ; its style relates it to the 12th dynasty. Some fragments date back to ca. 2000 B.C., others — the Tebtunis manuscripts — date back to ca. 1st century A.D	Hieratic, Demotic. Hieroglyphs and in Greek	Obstetrics & gynecology, Medicine, Pediatrics & ophthalmology	The structure of the papyrus bears great resemblance to that of the Kahun and Berlin papyri.	N/A	N/A	N/A	Egyptological Institute of the University of Copenhagen
Chester Beatty Medical Papyrus	Chester Beatty Papyri, Papyrus VI of the Chester Beatty Papyri 46 (Papyrus no. 10686, British Museum), Chester Beatty V BM 10685, VI BM 10686, VII BM 10687, VIII BM 10688, XV BM 10695	dated around 1200 BC]	Heritic?	Headche, and Anorectal disorders	Magic spells and medical reciepes for headache & anorectal disease	N/A	started off as a private collection by the scribe Qen-her-khepeshef in the 19th Dynasty and passed on down through his family until there were placed in a tomb	Deir el-Medina (the workers village) in 1928	British Museum
Brooklyn Papyrus	47.218.48 och 47.218.85, also known as the Brooklyn Medical Papyrus	a collection of papyri which belong to the end of the 30th dynasty, dated to around 450 BC, or the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period. However, it is written with the Middle Kingdom style which could suggest its origin might be from the Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt	Hiertic?	deals only with snakes and scorpion bites, and the formula to drive out the poison of such animals	It speaks about remedies to drive out poison from snakes, scorpions and tarantulas. The style of these remedies relates to that of the Ebers papyrus	a scroll of papyrus divided into two parts with some parts missing, its total length is estimated to 175 by 27 centimetres (69 in × 11 in)	N/A	might originate from a temple at ancient Heliopolis, discovered before 1885	Brooklyn Museum in New York
Erman Papyrus^[12]	given with the Westcar papyrus to Berlin museum	Middle dated from the beginning of the New Kingdom (16th century BC)		Medicine, Magic & Anatomy	holds some medical formula and a list of anatomic names (body and viscera) and about 20 magical formula	N/A	N/A	before 1886 AD	Berlin Museum
Leiden Papyrus^[12]	Rijksmuseum, Leiden 1343-1345	18th-19th dynasty		Medicine, Magic	It mostly deals with magical texts	N/A	N/A	N/A	Rijks museum, Leiden